If you would like to suggest an employee to be featured in Upstate
FACES:
Contact: Liz Estera
Phone: 315 464-4401
Email:esterae@upstate.edu

April 2010

Dawn Drake has been part of Upstate’s Information Management & Technology (IMT) team for over 13 years. She began in the area of PC Support and in 1998 transitioned to Operations and Networking. In her current position, Dawn, along with a fellow co-worker, manages Upstate’s GroupWise e-mail and anti-spam virus filtering system. She is responsible for the back end of the system consisting of a dozen post-offices with over 8000 e-mail accounts. In addition, Dawn manages the Blackberry Enterprise Server, which she established back in 2005. Blackberries have become an integral part of Upstate’s communication infrastructure, helping to facilitate and support the many functions our employees perform. When asked what she enjoys most about her job, she replied, “No two days are the same for me. I really enjoy the troubleshooting and problem solving part of my position, as well as all the people I work and interact with. Also knowing I play a role in facilitating people’s job is very rewarding to me as well.”

Outside of work, Dawn values the time she spends with her family including her fiancé, step-son and step-daughter and her two cats. She is an avid knitter and enjoys playing the flute with the Central New York Flute Choir. When asked what she’d like people to know about her, Dawn responded “I enjoy being part of a team and working towards providing operations and networking support to our Upstate community. It’s very rewarding to know that I help support our incredible mission.”

Dawn, thank you for all your efforts in helping to ensure our Upstate community can effectively communicate through the use of the technology. Keep up the great work!